


just a trophy

by 90kg_anvil



Series: 3H Kinkmeme Fills [9]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Depression, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:53:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29707776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/90kg_anvil/pseuds/90kg_anvil
Summary: Originally written for and posted on the 3H Kinkmeme.Prompt:We all know Sylvain is super smart, since there are quite a few supports that mention that (the ones with Annette come to mind, but there are others). He keeps up this facade where he is just a dumb manwhore, but he’s super gifted in the academy department.Essentially, I want to see Sylvain fail on purpose during the academy days – like writing bullshit answers on the tests, always deny requests to study in the library, lose on purpose during training, etc. He does the bare minimum to pass when he could be getting grades just as impressive as Annette’s or Lysithea’s.Extra bonus: Sylvain’s been secretly helping a bunch of students with their upcoming exams by anonymously sending books/notes because he doesn’t want them to fall behind.
Series: 3H Kinkmeme Fills [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2148606
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	just a trophy

**Author's Note:**

> to the person who anonymously uploaded a link to the original kinkmeme fill without asking for permission: hi! i am the original author of this piece (the authornon, if you prefer). this was not yours to upload. but good news for you! the fic you liked so much you reposted without permission to another site is now here (what you are currently reading!), posted by the original author (me!) so you can delete the link you uploaded :) please dont ever upload or cross-post anyone else's work without first asking them, especially if it was originally written anonymously :) :)
> 
> without further ado, heres sylvain self-sabotaging his way into a depression spiral

It's a beautiful day outside, even if it's just too warm to be perfect, and Sylvain is more than happy to lay in the shade and take a nap.

Or he would be, if everyone else didn't have the same idea. Ah, well. At least there's a relatively open spot next to a friend.

"Hey, Ashe. Mind if I sit here?"

Ashe looks up from his book. "Oh! Hi, Sylvain. No, go right ahead. I'm just --- ah, never mind. Don't let me bother you."

Sylvain sits down and raises an eyebrow. "Studying troubles?"

Ashe nods. "I just can't get the math right. I don't know whether to use sine or cosine or how elevation affects anything, and --- sorry."

Tangent, actually. That particular ballista worksheet was entirely tangents, and to answer his question, increased elevation allows you to shoot farther because the payload is in the air for longer, and the horizontal velocity doesn't stop until the payload hits the ground and explodes.

Sylvain shrugs. "Better ask Annette. I just put 45 degrees for everything. It's gotta be true for at least one of them, you know?"

It was the answer to number 18.

Ashe smiles pleasantly, not unlike a shopkeeper or bartender dealing with an unruly customer. "Maybe you should ask Annette too, Sylvain."

Sylvain shakes his head and lays down. "Maybe after my nap. Wake me up in about a half hour?"

Ashe looks disappointed for a second, but he just says, "All right," and goes back to the worksheet.

He'll make sure to slip a copy of his formula cheat sheet under Ashe's door before dinner.

\---

"Sylvain, would you like to study together later?"

Sylvain stops brushing his horse and looks at Mercedes. "Study?"

She beams. "Yes, in the library! Dedue and I are making snacks, and you could bring apple cider if you wanted. Doesn't that just sound lovely?"

It does. It really, really does, and those are two of the only people who have wanted to interact with him like an actual person. To be perfectly honest, he would love to spend more time with them, reputation be damned. "How many people are coming?"

"As many as we can get! We've already got Annie and Dimitri and Ashe and Dorothea and Linhardt and Leonie a---"

"Sorry, but I'm busy," Sylvain lies. "Just remembered I had a date."

Mercedes' face falls. "You can just say you don't want to come. I always prefer the truth, even if it's something you think I don't want to hear."

Fuck. "Mercedes, I'm sor---"

She waves him off. "If you change your mind, we'll be there from seven to midnight. Good luck on your Cavalier exam tomorrow."

Faced with her disapproval, he has the urge to prove himself for once, to tell her that he's been studying lance forms all day and came down to the stables to get more riding practice. But that would ruin everything, wouldn't it? Because then people will expect him to act like he isn't worthless.

He smiles. "Thanks. Good luck on your certifications too."

\---

There's been a chessboard set up in the middle of the gazebo for a few days.

It started out with everything set up perfectly except one white pawn moved two spaces forward. Sylvain had moved a black knight as he passed it, and when he came back after class there was another white pawn moved. He's been playing against his mystery opponent ever since.

It's been fun. Whoever it is knows what they're doing, and Sylvain hasn't had a match this exciting in _years_.

It's been getting intense today, though. He's been dancing around being put in check and putting his opponent in check, and they've both apparently made a point of stopping by the gazebo frequently, because every time he's passed it, his opponent has responded.

Wait.

His opponent actually fell for the gambit.

Holy shit.

With a smile, Sylvain queens a pawn and puts the white king into checkmate.

"Hey, Sylvain!"

He freezes.

Claude gets up from where he's having tea with Hilda and walks over.

"Oh, sorry, were you playing? I'll just put this back---"

Claude looks at the board and swears under his breath. "I knew I should've gone with Bishop to A3."

Instead, Claude had taken out Sylvain's rook. "I'm really sorry. I thought the board was abandoned. Were you and Hilda playing?"

Claude looks at him, eyes sharp and discerning, and laughs. It's absolutely for show. "With Hilda? Are you kidding?"

She gasps, affronted. "Claude!"

"I don't know who I was playing with," Claude says, and Sylvain is pretty sure he's lying, "but whoever it was, I bet they got that gambit from _Reflet's Guide To Strategy_."

Fuck, okay, Claude caught him. "Why does that sound vaguely familiar?"

"It's the extra reading from last moon. Oh, it might've been Ignatz, actually. He's been trying to boost his grade in Authority."

Sylvain smiles as if impressed. "Good for him. You should congratulate him, you know. He won against tactical mastermind Claude von Riegan."

Claude smiles back, easygoing as always. "You flatter me. Say, since we're both here, want to play against each other?"

Sylvain laughs delicately, stretching his arms behind his head. "I'm afraid I wouldn't be much of a challenge for you, but all right. I've got some time to kill."

Sylvain loses quickly and deliberately, making beginner mistakes and moving impulsively. He thinks he does a convincing job of periodically wincing the second his turn is over, as if he just saw how bad a move would be. It's still fascinating to see how Claude seems to recalibrate and reconsider after every turn, as if running through sixteen separate strategies at once. The game ends in less than fifteen minutes.

"Damn, Sylvain. Even I lasted longer against Claude than you," Hilda announces.

Sylvain shrugs. "I warned you I'm no good at this."

"Yeah," Claude says, looking at Sylvain like he's unsure of something, "you sure did."

\---

The minimum passing grade for any given exam is 60%, which means that if Sylvain really wanted to, he could theoretically get a _nice_ 69 on everything.

(That would be too suspicious, so he generally aims for mid-70s.)

Training, however, is slightly harder to fake. To start, he can't exactly hide his hyperactive reflexes or the way that he's more comfortable on a horse than on his own two legs. He was trained to disable as efficiently as possible because it's faster than the Faerghus standard of a quick and honorable death. And, perhaps most importantly, his childhood was one long battle simulation, between the live weapon "sparring" matches against his brother and the border skirmishes with Sreng. Any hesitation he might have had, be it to kill or survive, was systematically beaten out of him a long time ago.

And it shows.

That being said, there’s one big thing that works in his favor when trying not to stand out in sparring: he's not the best at any particular skill among the Blue Lions. Ingrid and Felix are the fastest, Dimitri and Dedue are the designated strong protectors, Annette and Mercedes are the magic specialists, and Ashe is uncannily dexterous. All Sylvain has to do while sparring is play up his weaknesses and surrender long before he reaches his actual breaking point.

Dimitri is easy, given how terrifyingly strong he is: let him get a few hits in, let it sting, let it bruise, and call for mercy while pretending he can’t breathe right.

With Dedue, he just needs to dodge slightly less often and deliberately miss a few hits, and he'll get worn down naturally.

He lets Ingrid get in reach and goes on the offense instead of blocking more often.

Felix, who is significantly stronger and faster than him, only requires him to give up sooner than he would in a real fight.

Ashe is also pretty easy: let him shoot first, and keep deliberately missing some strikes.

Annette and Mercedes can actually get him pretty well if he doesn't bother to dodge, so he doesn't. He's pretty susceptible to magical attacks anyway.

Of course, he doesn't lose every match, and sometimes he doesn't even lose on his own terms, because this is the Officer's Academy, and they're all getting frighteningly good at warfare. But allowing his weaknesses to be exploited makes him seem stupid and unobservant, which is exactly what he's going for.

Still.

He's scared that one day someone's Crest will activate and he'll survive a blow that should have been lethal for someone as weak as he's been pretending to be.

\---

Professor Byleth wants to see him after class.

Shit. Did he pretend to be too stupid on that Authority exam? He was certain that he'd gotten well over half the questions right. Or is this about the bow practical?

...If it's about the bow practical, that would actually be a fair assessment of his abilities. He's not sure how people can shoot so accurately from far away. Maybe they've practiced aiming so often they can compensate for how blurry the target is?

"Sylvain, sit down."

He does, smiling. "What can I do for you, Professor Byleth?"

They stare unblinkingly back at him. "I want you to certify as a Mage."

His eyes go wide. "What?"

"I want you to certify as a Mage."

He laughs nervously. "No, I processed what you said, it's just --- I'm not really cut out for that, Professor."

They shake their head. "I've seen you successfully cast Bolganone, and Hanneman has noted multiple times how stable your spells are."

Fuck. He thought nobody was watching. "This is news to me."

Byleth sighs. "Just try it, okay? If you hate it, you can stick with Cavalier, but I really think you'll enjoy learning more magic."

They're right, and he _knows_ it. If he were a better person, he'd be grateful that Byleth cares about him enough to figure out what subjects he likes. "Was that all?"

They shake their head. "Shut the door."

Dread pools in the pit of his stomach as he obeys. "What's going on?"

Byleth looks... distinctly unhappy. "It's about this month's mission. My class is taking down bandits, and I'd like to borrow you to assist."

"With all due respect, Professor, why me in particular?"

"These bandits stole the Lance of Ruin."

Sylvain digs his fingernails into his palms and tries not to choke on the memory of well water. "They wouldn't happen to be based around Conand Tower, would they?"

Byleth nods.

Sylvain smiles, and it feels bloody. "Professor, if you let me kill him, I'll certify into whatever the fuck you want."

\---

It's almost funny how quickly everything goes to shit after that. People don't pay as much attention to Sylvain, which gives him more leeway to do what he wants.

He makes a bunch of copies of his notes and posts them in the library with a small "Free study materials" sign, constantly looks for book recommendations he can pass along to the people who need them, and even starts volunteering to do other people's chores so that they have more time to study (also because he genuinely likes cleaning; both the physical act and the end result are soothing).

He starts writing complete bullshit on tests instead of carefully calibrating his answers to seem innocuously stupid. He uses unfamiliar weapons while sparring so he's at an automatic disadvantage. He makes absolutely certain that he's seen going out with someone every day just in case anyone starts to suspect him of being the anonymous helper.

It works.

\---

The war comes before Sylvain gets a chance to graduate with mediocre grades. It doesn't matter.

The Officer's Academy honed him into a better fighter than he ever thought he would be. He's led battalions, learned fire and healing magic, and even certified as a paladin. None of that matters either.

In the end, the only thing that matters is this: when he returns to Gautier, his dumb manwhore reputation precedes him everywhere he goes.

People don't expect anything of him.

Not the Empire, not Sreng, and definitely not his father.

Sylvain is a well-oiled war machine, and _everyone_ underestimates him.

**Author's Note:**

> finally de-anoning to post my kinkmeme fills here
> 
> And just in case the beginning note was too subtle: **do not upload things you didn't write**. Authors shouldn't have to worry that their stuff is getting circulated to other sites without their knowledge or consent. There are some fills that I do not want circulated or cross-posted, ever, much less in a way that is out of my control and done behind my back --- and the fact that I was already planning to post this one before you uploaded the link does not make it any more acceptable. _Ask first_ , and if the author says no, then use your browser's bookmark function. I shouldn't have to explain basic etiquette, but here we are. Delete your linked version. Thank you.


End file.
